Coco Gauff struggled in her Indian Wells opener and blasted a stunning 21 double faults but ultimately managed to end on the winning side and avoid picking up her fourth consecutive defeat.
After losing to Paula Badosa in the Australian Open quarterfinal and also falling short in her opening matches in Doha and Dubai, the 20-year-old registered her first victory in nearly two months after overcoming Moyuka Uchijima 6-4 3-6 7-6 (4) in over two and a half hours of play.
The Japanese, who beat Emma Raducanu two days ago, earned the first break of the match in the third game. However, No. 3 seed – who had a first-round bye – quickly responded, breaking the world No. 52 in the fourth and 10th games to overturn the early deficit and seal the first set.
Just when it started to look like Gauff may have broken Uchijima’s spirit, the American started to struggle a lot on her serve. Even though the 2023 US Open champion claimed two breaks in the second set, she still lost the set easily after losing her own serve a stunning four times.
Gauff missed out on many chances in the third set but avoided the worst-case scenario
While the world No. 3 at the start of the third set and opened a comfortable 4-0 lead, it still didn’t go without drama after she missed out on match points in the ninth and 10th games and allowed the Japanese to fully get back into the match. Then, the American tennis star missed out on more chances after earning another break for a 6-5 lead but failing to serve out for the match in the following game.
Fortunately for Gauff, she didn’t pay the ultimate price for her missed opportunities but she needed five match points before completing her win via a third-set tie-break.
In the Indian Wells third round, she plays against No. 29 seed Maria Sakkari.
Tennis World USA